ANG (Netherlands Antilles Guilder)

DEFINITION of 'ANG (Netherlands Antilles Guilder)'

ANG is the currency abbreviation or currency symbol for the Netherlands Antilles guilder, also called the Dutch guilder, which was the currency of the Netherland Antilles until the country was dissolved in 2010. As of 2016, ANG is the currency for the island nations of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, formerly part of the Netherland Antilles and now constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

BREAKING DOWN 'ANG (Netherlands Antilles Guilder)'

The guilder was introduced in the Netherlands Antilles in the 18th century as the Dutch guilder. Following the period from 1799 to 1828, during which the real replaced the guilder, the Dutch guilder was reintroduced in 1828. In 1940, the link to the Dutch currency was broken, and the currency was pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 1.88585 guilders to $1. This peg has been periodically adjusted since that time and stood at 1.77000 in April 2016. The Netherlands Antilles guilder is also sometimes called the Netherlands Antillean guilder or simply the Antillean guilder. The Antillean guilder is a decimal system-based currency subdivided into 100 cents. Coins are circulated in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents. Banknotes are issued in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 guilders. Aruba previously used the Netherlands Antilles guilder but replaced it with the Aruban florin. The florin has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at the same rates as the Netherlands Antilles dollar. Its symbol, ƒ, is often used interchangeably with the Antillean guilder, and the Antillean guilder is sometimes abbreviated as NAƒ, NAf, ƒ or f.

The Caribbean Guilder

On Jan. 1, 2011, the former Netherlands Antilles islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius replaced the Netherlands Antilles guilder with the U.S. dollar. The former Netherlands Antilles islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten plan to replace the Antillean guilder with the new Caribbean guilder. The Caribbean guilder will be abbreviated as CMg, from the first letters of Curaçao, Maarten and guilder, and will be pegged to the U.S. dollar at the same rate as ANG.

Before CMg replaces ANG, issues regarding the joint central bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten must first be resolved. Curaçao wants its own central bank, and it is engaged in a process with Sint Maarten to realize this goal. However, in 2014, Curaçao's Minister of Finance, Dr. Jose Jardim, stated in a letter to the nation's parliament that the governments of Curaçao and Sint Maarten had not prioritized the objective. He further stated the existing monetary union did not function well because the two nations were not coordinating on policies related to labor markets and institutional frameworks, implying the two governments needed to either coordinate better or prioritize monetary separation.